Pitchfork

Having made the leap in just three albums from four-track lo-fi recordings to stunning mid-fi, the Thermals aren't exactly prized for innovation. Cracking open their vaults doesn't promise a whole lot of surprises. But consistency remains a virtue even for groups that can count their releases on one hand, and Hutch Harris and co. don't even break their streak on a promotional live record. Previous Insound tour support outings held a lot of hidden gems for fans, and while there's only one new song here to speak of, they've picked a sure bet to kickstart the series again. The fidelity here moves from live-in-the-studio radio shows to homespun demos, but thankfully, the Thermals write simple, effective songs that sound great in any cast, whether it's a rough live recording or a quick acoustic sketch.

The disc begins with a recent radio session for KEXP, picking four tracks from their latest, The Body, the Blood, the Machine. Opening on "Returning to the Fold" is particularly inspired, as it's an overlooked highlight whose lyrics added a note of hesitation and ambiguity to what could have been an album of one-note Bush-bashing and conservative baiting, given its loose concept. It sounds like the session was recorded when they band were still just three members strong (before touring with an added guitarist), and the guitars don't suffer or drop out while Harris hits all his notes and his vocals retain the same ranting drama and bile. Still, these versions aren't much different from their album counterparts: Guitars still chug out the changes, Harris' cutting yelp still hovers above the fray somewhere while singing melodies indelible by the second listen, the rhythm section still bounds like a hyperactive child, and it's still hilarious in when Harris rhymes "bill" with "feel" on "I Might Need You to Kill."

More live tracks follow, with the bulk of the disc coming from a concert at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, featuring songs culled from their previous two albums and much more spirited performances. "Back to the Sea" is only Body track here, and while it does mark a change in the relentless tempo, it sounds sluggish and out of place amongst the older material. "A Passing Feeling" shines out in particular, as its brief voice-and-drum break seems to gain more charm the faster it's played.

The unreleased song "Welcome to the Planet" introduces the acoustic segment that closes the record, and unfortunately it's a disappointment, too long by half and one of the only instances where Harris' lyrics are so inane they sink the irrepressible melody. It's redeemed by acoustic versions of "I Know the Pattern" and "A Pillar of Salt", slightly cleaned up and refined in their stripped-down form, but whatever they've lost in urgency they gain in poignancy. So God bless the Thermals for keeping it simple, for writing a political album whose greatest conceit is rhyming "tornadoes" and "nazi halos," and for not losing sight of what made them great in the first place. If they'd simply made three albums that proved three- or four-chord punk-pop still has life in it, that would have been plenty. The high note they're still riding makes this particular barrel worth scraping, for fans or anyone else.